Post-doctoral clinical hours for ethics consultations?

[HPB2015]

I will be doing ethics consultations as part of my postdoc. This involves actually meeting with patients as well as consulting with psychologists, physicians, etc. I am wondering if these would count as clinical hours? I hope so, it seems similar to the C/L work I have done on internship.

I'm starting to try to read through/understand state licensure requirements and woof, some of these are written in such a confusing way. Is there a trustworthy website that breaks these requirements down by state in more plain English?

Finally related to my personal situation, one of the states I was looking at stated something about there being a minimum number of hours of post-doc hours accrued each week to "count". On the other hand, I have definitely heard of individuals who mainly do research chipping away at their clinical hours over time. Am I understanding correctly that in some (many? all?) states one's postdoc hours would only count toward licensure if there were X # of hours completed each week? I will be rotating on and off a clinical service so I would have some weeks where I have no clinical contact.

Thank you!!

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[foreverbull]

I am a little confused about what it means to have "ethics consultations" with clients specifically. What does that entail?

If you are not providing direct therapeutic or assessment services, my first inclination would be to say that no, this is not going to count as direct (intervention/clinical) hours. Ethical consultation with colleages and supervisors or other professionals definitely doesn't count as direct intervention hours (I consulted with supervisors and other professionals on internship and that time was just administrative or supervision).

You will have to check with the state board regarding the weekly time required. In my state, you can do part-time postdocs that last 2 or more years, but this may vary by state, so it would help to know what state you live in if there are folks in here living in the same state who can chime in.

No, I don't think there is a website that breaks down every state's postdoc requirements in layman's terms, although certainly that'd be helpful. You have to sort through your state board of psychology's website and talk to folks in your state. It might be helpful to reach out to folks who are in the postdoc process in your state--is there a local psychology organization you can join (usually free or at a reduced cost for postdocs) to get more info?

 

[WisNeuro]

I'll agree that I'd need to know more to give more nuanced answers. From what is given so far, I wouldn't think it would count for F2F clinical hours, and would fall under the anomalous "support hours" type of work.

 

[HPB2015]

I am a little confused about what it means to have "ethics consultations" with clients specifically. What does that entail?

I'll agree that I'd need to know more to give more nuanced answers.

I appreciate your responses and thanks for asking for clarification. This would be at a hospital - e.g. speaking to patients and their families about difficult treatment decisions, working with the emotions that are coming up, etc. Does that clarify?

 

[summerbabe]

This would be at a hospital - e.g. speaking to patients and their families about difficult treatment decisions, working with the emotions that are coming up, etc.

Will these be coded as a psychotherapy or other related CPT code and done under somebody else's clinical license?

 

[HPB2015]

Will these be coded as a psychotherapy or other related CPT code and done under somebody else's clinical license?

Well now that you mention it, I guess that is a more simple way to look at this question!

 

[PsyDr]

I appreciate your responses and thanks for asking for clarification. This would be at a hospital - e.g. speaking to patients and their families about difficult treatment decisions, working with the emotions that are coming up, etc. Does that clarify?

The title is misleading you. Typically when we use the term "ethics consult", we are referring to a peer to peer discussion about the application of the APA ethical code. I have never heard of a patient being involved in one of those.

Your institution might call it an "ethics consult", but that's not what everyone else calls it. It's a health psych consult, and it's billed as an H&B code. Almost all licensing boards would consider this to count as clinical hours.

 

[HPB2015]

The title is misleading you. Typically when we use the term "ethics consult", we are referring to a peer to peer discussion about the application of the APA ethical code. I have never heard of a patient being involved in one of those.

Your institution might call it an "ethics consult", but that's not what everyone else calls it. It's a health psych consult, and it's billed as an H&B code. Almost all licensing boards would consider this to count as clinical hours.

OK, thank you so much! This really helps!

 

[Spydra]

It also may help to connect with the psychology association for your state. Membership is probably cheaper for post docs and they likely have workshops or conference presentations that help with making sense of the hours and the path to licensing.